The famous ship
burial at Sutton Hoo was discovered under a mound called 'Mound 1'. There
are about twenty other burial mounds in the same field.

Mound 1 is the biggest mound. Mound
2 is also very big. The others are smaller.

Several of these other mounds have
been excavated by archaeologists.

Sadly, most of them had been robbed
by treasure hunters. This probably happened in Tudor times.

The robbers didn't do a very good
job. Archaeologists have found small things which they missed.
They also use clever techniques to work out what metals have
been buried in the ground.

Mound 2 contained another big ship.
The dead person was buried in a wooden chamber underneath the
ship. Only some small gold plaques were left from the treasure.
It might have been the grave of King
Redwald's son, King Erpwald.

Mound 17 was not robbed. It
contained the graves of a man and his horse. The man wore a
golden buckle inlaid with garnets (red gemstones). The horse
wore a harness with gold decoration. This was like the horse
trappings described in the 'Beowulf'
poem.

Other mounds contained cremations.
The dead person and their belongings were burnt and placed in a
pot.